Before you say anything, this is completely beer related and completely non-partisan...

I've decided to contact some of the remaining Presidential candidates yesterday (via their web sites) and ask them a few questions about beer and home brewing. I hope that someone from their campaign staff at least takes the time to read through these and respond. Maybe you can help me get the word out, because I haven't gotten any responses yet.

Q: A number of states still have laws that date back to prohibition, banning the hobby and craft of home brewing. If elected what will you do about that?

Q: We hear a lot of talk about reducing the prices of energy, particularly oil, but what about the prices of hops and barley? These rising prices are hitting the American consumer in the wallet, if elected what will you do to help with this issue?

Q: A number of states are levying higher taxes on beer; ultimately this hurts the consumer and the industry. What are your thoughts on the subject?

Q: A question often asked is, "Which candidate would you most want to have a beer with." Do you enjoy quality beer, and if so, what is your beer of choice?

Blog.HomeBrewBeer.net - I'm learning how to home brew, and I'm blogging all about it... Stop by and check it out.

I hope you get responses, but don't expect them to be directly from the candidates. Hmmmm. The staff probably has a list of positions of the candidate that they work for, but those questions are not likely to be on the list, and I doubt that they would presume to answer for the candidate, so ... I think there are three possibilities:
1. They will actually consult the candidate, so you might get an answer almost directly from him/her;
2. You will get a very general answer that evades the question; something like "You have raised a very interesting point that Hillary has been carefully considering for many years, but has not yet come to any final conclusions ... blah ... blah ... yadda yadda"; or
3. You won't get any response at all.

But you can't blame them; they probably get many thousands of messages, and homebrewing and drinking beer no doubt have a very low priority.

If you do get a specific answer, I wish you would have included a question about distillation. It should be legalized like it is in New Zealand.

Anyway, the answer to #1 and #3 is going to be 'Nothing', because the feds can't force a state to legalize it or control how they tax it. The most that could be done would be to withhold federal funding of some sort to twist an arm, and that would really tick me off because state's rights are more important to me than legalizing homebrew. Besides, I think it is probably to the point now that politicians probably prefer that the government just quietly ignore stuff like that rather than make noises that could stir up the temperance league (Mother's Against Drunk Driving, etc.). When is the last time anyone ever heard of anyone being prosecuted for making beer? And even if prohibition is repeated, do you think I'll quit if there is any way for me to continue to get my ingredients? Take a guess. How about you? So, if I move to a state where it is still illegal, what do you think I'd do? Brew! And do you think any state is trying to locate, bust, and prosecute homebrewers?

#2 probably won't be taken seriously, and the answer to #4 is probably 'Budmillercoors'.

Beer is a tricky topic, though, and it doesn't even need to be _real_ beer; you should have seen the reaction I got at the last school board meeting when I asked it they would let the school cafeteria serve 'near beer', which is already legal for kids to drink. Nahhh, just kidding.